A team of experts led by researchers from the University of Leicester (UK) has discovered a group of genes essential for learning, memory, aggression, and other complex behaviors that trace back approximately 650 million years.
The team, headed by Dr. Roberto Feuda along with colleagues from the University of Leicester and the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), published their new findings on the genetic origins of learning and memory in the journal Nature Communications.
The gene group necessary for learning and memory has ancient origins.
Dr. Feuda noted that researchers have long known that monoamine substances such as serotonin, dopamine, and adrenaline act as neurotransmitters. This group plays a crucial role in complex behaviors and functions such as learning and memory, as well as processes like sleeping and eating.
However, there has been little information regarding the origins of the genes necessary for the production, detection, and degradation of these neurotransmitters.
“Using computer models, we reconstructed the evolutionary history of these genes and showed that most genes related to the production, modulation, and reception of these substances originated from the (extinct) ancestral group of bilateral animals“, according to Dr. Feuda.
This new discovery has significant implications for studying the evolutionary origins of complex behaviors observed in humans and other animal species.
The expert team believes that the emergence of new mechanisms for modulating neural circuits may have played a role during the period known as the Cambrian Explosion. This era witnessed the relatively rapid appearance of most major animal groups, leading to the greatest diversification of life on Earth’s surface.
